


Inside That Cave//You Call a Chest

by howdoyoupronounceiero



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), My Chemical Romance
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-10-16
Updated: 2011-11-07
Packaged: 2017-10-24 16:42:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/265662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howdoyoupronounceiero/pseuds/howdoyoupronounceiero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A BL/ind experiment gone wrong is on the run, trying to keep herself alive in the zones while avoiding recapture. Her little robot companion idolizes the infamous killjoys, but she wants nothing to do with the brightly colored outlaws and their reckless behavior.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. <All The Wounds That Are Ever Gonna Scar Me>

<transmission 1>

 

"are_you_able_to_feel_the_warmth" Casper inquired turning its metallic body towards the white haired female slightly.

She didn't respond at first, her arms folded and resting on her skinned knees, simply staring into the crackling flames dancing inches from her worn boots. The fire flickered illuminating her young but worn face. Her eyes followed the tall red and yellow flames as they swayed with the turbulent, sand filled winds that always seemed to sweep the dusty zones at night.

Casper's wide optical lenses focused and unfocused on her expectantly. She didn't look over to meet his robotic gaze. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead as she lifted a piece of scrap wood from beside her and tossed it carelessly into the fire. Casper watched the flames leap and roar in the reflection on her pale blue eyes.

"sorry_for_asking" Casper spoke into the dead night silence of the zones, before adding in an attempt at comforting her, "i_am_also_unable_to_register_the_heat"

The girl nodded thoughtfully, her hand subconsciously reaching for the thick metal disc that protruded from the center of her chest. Casper padded away on his spindly metal legs that sprouted from the top of his head and came down around him on all sides in a very spider-like manner. The moonlight glinted off of his ghost shaped metal body in all directions as he made his way across the sandy desert floor.

The pale eyed girl looked back over her shoulder curiously at Casper as he secured their small radio in two of his spider-like metal limbs and made his way back over to the fire.

"What're you getting the radio for?" she asked, eyeing Casper suspiciously.

"we_should_see_if_anyone_is_broadcasting" Casper suggested in an attempt to get the female's mind off of the fire in front of her and its warmth that she couldn't feel.

The girl gave no response to this. She simply cast her gaze down from Casper's large round optical lenses to the radio he was holding in the suction cups at the ends of his thin, metal limbs. He used the pointy ends of his non-suction-cupped limbs to manipulate the tiny buttons and dials until a distinct voice could be heard under the sea of static.

" **sounds to keep you…system failure…masses, anti-matter for the master plan** ," the voice boomed thickly and confidently, despite the white noise that tried to drown it out.

The white haired girl stood up abruptly and began to walk towards the tent, her long translucent hair trailing behind her in the turbulent winds of the wasteland. Casper quickly switched the radio off and scrambled to follow her.

"Those killjoys have no idea what they're doing," she mumbled, ducking as she entered the makeshift cloth tent they had crafted for the night.

"i_do_not_understand_your_opposition_to_the_killjoys" Casper offered as he followed her into the tent, "their_goal_and_your_goal_are_the_same"

"Maybe, but there's one difference between me and them," she spoke over her shoulder as she rummaged through their rucksack in the far corner of the tent.

"what_is_that" Casper prodded as he retracted his spindly metal legs and rested on the bundle of cloth beneath him, ready to call it a night and save some of his dwindling battery power.

The white haired girl finally took hold of something within the rucksack and pulled it out so that Casper could see. What emerged was her blank, white ray gun. Casper had seen this gun countless times; it had no form of decoration on its white body besides the small, black smilie face in the corner. Any zone dweller would recognize that ominous logo anywhere. _Better Living Industries_.

"I know what we're dealing with, Casper," she concluded, ejecting the empty cartridge from the gun and inserting a full one, "I know the enemy inside and out."

The last thing Casper saw before powering down for the night was worn leather boots exiting the tent and stepping out into the dusty night air.

 

<end transmission>


	2. <These Red Ones Make Me Fly and The Blue Ones Help Me Fall>

<transmission 2>

 

"Hey Casper, good news," the white haired girl called as she ducked to reenter the tent. A smile was apparent in her voice. Casper retracted the shutters over his optical lenses and rotated his metal body to observe her. Her worn cloth tank top, a dull sandy color, hung low on her chest fully exposing the protruding circular metal plate in the center. Bright morning light poured in through the entrance where the girl stood and the night winds had disappeared leaving the desert sand and flaps of the tent completely still.

"you've_decided_that_we_will_traverse_to_zone_six" Casper guessed hopefully as his spider-like legs extended from the top of his head and lowered to the ground. Zone 6 was rumored to be the zone where the killjoys dwelled.

"No," she countered without delay, "get over it Casper, that's just a myth. And we're not looking for any _killjoys_ anyways."

Casper used his metal arms to lift his body until it hovered inches above the ground; this was his usual stance, "then_what_is_the_good_news"

The girl's thin lips curved into a smile as she extended her arm and unfolded her fingers to reveal a small green rectangular object in her palm.

"thank_you" Casper vocalized as enthusiastically as a robot possibly could, turning around so that the girl could access his battery compartment, "how_did_you_retrieve_it"

The girl pulled her screwdriver from the holster on her left leg that held her knife and tools, then removed the panel on the back of Casper's ghost shaped metal body. His various lights instantly went dark as she pried the small green rectangle from his back and replaced it with the new one. She waited patiently for him to reboot before answering his question.

"It was too easy, there was a roaming BL/ind Kam way off base," she explained smiling, "All I had to do was stay out of its field of vision, and there weren't any Dracs around to see me take its battery."

"that_sounds_boring" Casper stated, padding out of the tent as the girl dropped the rucksack on the ground and kneeled over it, "i_was_hoping_for_a_more_exciting_"

"Hey, do you want that battery or not?" she interrupted him, casting a glare over her shoulder, before turning back to where she was trying to stuff the bulky tent into the rucksack. Casper shut up and went over to help her. He nudged her out of the way, and she sat back resignedly as his tiny robot limbs swiftly folded the tent into an impossibly small rectangle and placed it neatly into the rucksack.

"Thanks," she muttered taking the rucksack from Casper's outstretched metal limbs and slinging it over her shoulder, "Let's go."

The two traveled across the sandy California desert side by side, stopping every so often to examine random pieces of scrap metal they encountered on their path. The white haired girl dismissed nearly everything she found, while Casper rambled on and on about the possible uses of a bent, rusty screw that he had picked up.

"Shhh," the girl shushed, coming to a complete stop and turning back towards Casper with a finger over her thin lips.

"we_could_even_use_it_to_pin_our_tent_down_when_" Casper rambled, not expecting the sudden stop, and ran into the back of her legs with a clank.

"SHHH" she emphasized more pointedly, motioning towards what lie ahead of them.

Casper refocused his optical lenses to inspect the sudden drop off a few feet ahead of them, and the tall, geometrical white buildings that lay in the canyon below. He dropped the rusty screw and panned the area for roaming BL/ind Kams or Dracs, but it seemed that besides himself and the white haired girl, the cliff top was deserted.

"what_do_you_see" Casper asked, creeping up to the edge of the canyon and gazing towards the white buildings as far as his limited optical lenses could zoom. Although his optical lenses were able to see twice as far as a normal human's eyes, his vision was still no match for the pale eyed girl's.

She stood still for a moment, her eyes darting from one point of interest to another until she said finally, "We're going in from the air vent on the west side of the building there."

Casper followed her pointing finger to the nearest white building. Dracs patrolled lazily in the front but in the back of the building, the west side, there seemed to be no protection. He focused on the backside of the building attempting to zoom further, "are_there_any_kams"

"A motion sensor Kam on the southwest corner of the building, and an armored Kam near the entrance to the air vent," she reported as she swung one boot over the edge of the cliff and searched for a stable rock to stand on, "we can't take the armored Kam out with a ray gun."

Casper knew this. He scuttled down the vertical face of the cliff with ease, his suction cups making soft plopping noises as he crawled. The white haired girl wasn't far behind though, deftly sweeping from one jutting rock to another until her boots reached solid ground.

As soon as they hit the sandy base of the canyon they both quickly surveyed their surroundings, but there were no Dracs nearby. They immediately spotted the tall, white building on the horizon and began to make their way towards it.

The white haired girl came to a stop although they were still fairly far from the building. She drew her ray gun and steadied it in front of her, closing one eye. Casper followed her line of sight, but the building was too far away for him to make out its features and he couldn't tell what she was aiming at. A high pitched blast was emitted from her blank white gun as a ray of light shot out and she placed the gun back in its holster on her right leg.

"Motion sensor Kam is out," she told him as they continued towards the south face of the building.

When they reached the building they crouched against its wall and looked to their right towards the north end. A few Dracs strolled by in the distance, disappearing behind the front of the building, but they didn't seem to notice the white haired girl and her little ghost-bot huddling at the west end of the building's south face. The white haired girl peered around the corner to survey the west face of the building where the entrance to the air vent would be, then turned to Casper and nodded.

Casper scuttled straight up the face of the building until he was a few feet above the white haired girl's head before scurrying around the corner and across the west face of the building towards the air vent entrance. He immediately spotted the armored Kam that the white haired girl had seen from the cliff top; its bulky metal body protruded from the side of the white building, right above the air vent entrance. When he was directly above it he descended slowly and silently, hugging the wall closely until he was right on top of the Kam, still out of view of the large lens beneath him. His swift little robot arms worked silently and rapidly to unscrew the armor plating and pull out the wires that lay underneath it. When the Kam made a whirring sound and its light flickered off, Casper scuttled quickly back to the white haired girl waiting around the corner.

"armored_kam_is_out" he reported dutifully before following the white haired girl around the corner and back towards the air vent. The white haired girl waited patiently as Casper unscrewed each corner of the grate one by one.

"Okay," she whispered, as she bent down and put one hand on the smooth metal of the vent, "remember, no heroics, we're just grabbing the plasma fluid and getting the hell out of here."

"agreed" Casper confirmed pattering into the narrow metal chute after her, "where_does_this_lead"

The white haired girl did not look back over her shoulder. She kept crawling along the metal passageway. Casper took this to mean that she had no idea.

They came to a fork where the chute went in two different directions. The girl hesitated and looked back at Casper expectantly.

"you're_the_one_who_used_to_live_in_buildings_like_these_you_tell_me" Casper responded, his volume low in the echoey metal passageway.

The girl peered around both corners, and after another moment of hesitation, started crawling left, towards the north. Casper followed.

"Do freezers have air vents in them?" she asked over her shoulder as they crawled.

"no" he replied realizing that she had been hoping to find an opening leading right into the huge freezer where BL/ind kept their plasma fluid.

"Dammit," came her reply, before she stopped abruptly in mid-crawl causing Casper to crash into her.

"You've got to stop doing that," she whispered over her shoulder, stifling a laugh as Casper lifted himself off her, "Look a vent."

Casper peered around her to see a grate leading into a white room, which he couldn't see much of, "what_do_you_see"

"It looks empty," she replied thoughtfully as she leaned closer to the grate to get a better look. If she said that it looked empty, it was empty, Casper concluded. The pale eyed girl's vision never missed anything.

"okay_lets_descend" Casper urged impatiently as the white haired girl pressed her ear against the grate.

"Okay," she agreed hesitantly, before carefully and slowly lifting the grate in an attempt to make as little noise as possible.

When the grate had been removed and placed to the side of the opening, the white haired girl slowly swung her feet over the edge and sat for a moment with her dark boots dangling in the white unknown below.

She looked back over her shoulder at Casper before smiling and shrugging, "Here goes nothin'," and with that she pushed herself off of the ledge and dropped down into the fluorescent lit white room below.

 

<end transmission>


	3. <Wouldn't Front the Scene If You Paid Me>

<transmission 3> 

 

The white haired girl outstretched her arms as Casper lowered himself from the vent above by his spidery metal legs, and caught him safely when he dropped.

The room that they stood in was completely empty, apart from the rectangular glass door in the white wall ahead of them. They quickly scurried to the wall next to it and peered through the glass cautiously. It seemed that this was one of several empty white rooms that lined a long white corridor.

"Okay, the freezer's gotta be t-" the white haired girl started before voices were heard in the corridor and she instantly shut up and crouched back behind the wall, pulling Casper back from in front of the glass door .

"why_did_you_stop_talking_" Casper blurted obliviously before the white haired girl quickly slapped a hand over his speaker cutting him off. They both sat perfectly still listening as intently as they could to the nearing voices.

"I'm not going to be with you stupid Dracs for long," insisted the strained voice of what sounded like a little girl, "my friends are going to be here any minute and kill you all."

"We'll see about that," replied the cool, emotionless voice of a woman which sounded extremely close. The white haired girl held her breath as the footsteps passed, then quickly pressed her face to the glass of the door to get a look at the party from behind.

A tall Asian woman led the group, followed by four Dracs who had a strong hold of a small child with light brown hair that curled into a bouncy afro. The pale eyed girl's vision instantly narrowed on the writing on the bracelet that dangled from the afro girl's delicate wrist. "Killjoys never die." Casper joined the white haired girl in watching as the group rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

"The little girl's with the killjoys," she whispered to Casper as she stood up and cautiously turned the handle on the door, pushing it open silently.

"maybe_we_should_help_her" Casper suggested, focusing his optical lenses on the corner that the girl had disappeared behind.

"I told you no heroics Casper, she's not one of ours," the white haired girl insisted as she turned and started walking down the corridor in the opposite direction of where the party of Dracs and their prisoner had been walking, "The freezer's this way."

"i_know_she's_not_one_of_ours" Casper said, hesitating for a moment before turning and following the white haired girl, "but_no_one_is_one_of_ours_we_are_alone"

"Exactly," the girl agreed smiling at the ghost-bot that crawled along beside her, "and we're going to keep it that way."

 

<end transmission>

 


	4. <So Get Your Gun and Meet Me by the Door>

<transmission 4>

 

"Okay, we're going to have to pass through the Kam surveillance room to get to the freezer," the white haired girl informed Casper as they neared a glossy white door, the only door they had seen that wasn't made of glass.

"how_many_dracs_will_be_in_the_surveillance_room" Casper asked looking up at the white haired girl with his wide, round optical lenses.

"I think usually there are only three or four," she said unsurely, the uncertainty in her voice scared Casper causing him to huddle closer to her scraped and bruised legs, "Don't worry I'll go first and take them out."

"okay_be_careful" Casper told her, wishing that he was a combat robot. Unfortunately ghost bots were not built to fight Dracs, and although he had tried, he was unable to wield a ray gun.

The white haired girl took a deep breath, drew her ray gun from her holster and slowly turned the door handle, trying not to let it squeak.

When the handle was turned completely she gave Casper one last look and pushed the door open. Casper closed his optical shutters.

He detected no sound.

He reopened his optical shutters to see the white haired girl standing dumbfounded in the doorway, the white door wide open. He peered around the doorframe and saw that the surveillance room was abandoned; the chairs in front of the countless monitors were empty and pushed out in all directions as if the Dracs had to leave in a hurry.

"Um," the white haired girl spoke, staring at the scene in confusion, "what?"

Casper cautiously lifted one metal limb and placed his suction cup on the white tile floor of the room.

No alarm went off, no trap door opened in the floor, no Dracs came running from hidden corners of the room. Casper and the white haired girl looked at each other for a moment before the white haired girl shrugged and they entered the room, closing the door behind them.

When they looked up at the monitors they realized where all the Dracs had gone. One monitor displayed what looked like a front lobby, where a few killjoys were spraying lasers at a swarm of Dracs that greatly outnumbered them.

"killjoys_are_here" Casper realized with glee, "look_killjoys_in_the_lobby"

He looked up at the white haired girl expecting her to scold him for being excited to see killjoys, but she seemed oblivious to the tiny robot's pronouncements. She stared at the black and white screen completely mesmerized.

"Who's that one?" she asked placing a finger on the monitor, not taking her eyes off of the screen.

Casper focused his optical lenses on the figure that she was pointing to and immediately recognized the bright haired killjoy. He debated for a second whether or not he should admit to his extensive knowledge of all things killjoy, then finally just told her, "that_is_party_poison"

"Party Poison," she said to herself, trying the name on her lips, before suddenly snapping out of her daze and turning to face Casper, "it's just that he's a good shot."

"yes_he_is_a_high_profile_killjoy" Casper told her, before realizing that was an understatment, "he_is_number_one_on_the_extermination_list"

"We should go down there and help those killjoys, they're way outnumbered," the white haired girl insisted suddenly, turning her back on the door to the freezer and drawing her ray gun again.

"but_the_plasma_fluid_" Casper started, confusion lacing his robot voice, "you_said_no_heroics"

"I may not like the killjoys, but I can't just sit back and watch them die," she decided as she opened the door leading back into the corridor, "you get the plasma fluid and I'll meet you at our meet up spot before nightfall."

"promise_" Casper asked uncertainly, his optical lenses focusing on the white haired girl standing in the doorway.

"Promise," she reassured him with a smile.

And with that she was gone.

 

<end transmission>


	5. <Like a Bullet Through a Flock of Doves>

_transmission 5_

Now that she knew no one but Casper was in the surveillance room, the white haired girl darted down the corridor to the elevator, not bothering to keep an eye out for Kams. She probably punched the elevator button harder than necessary, but she was in a hurry. She had to get down there before those stupid killjoys got their asses kicked.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on," Fun Ghoul shouted over the noise, crouching as Gracie scrambled onto his back. She pressed her cheek against his neck and he could feel the soft curls of her bouncy afro. He backed towards the front door, trying to keep Gracie hidden from the Dracs' ray guns as he shot back at them with his own. The Dracs were dropping dead everywhere, but it seemed like there were so many of them it didn't matter how many they shot.

"The van! The van!" Gracie cried urgently in his ear, wriggling to be put down as they backed through the glass doors and out into the open.

Fun Ghoul glanced back over his shoulder to see the van, before returning his attention to the Dracs who were still shooting.

"Okay, go, I got ya covered," he assured her letting her drop onto her feet and sprint to the open van. He took a second to glance back over his shoulder again and made sure she had gotten in safely before charging back into the lobby, ray gun firing rapidly. It was time to get out of there, but he wasn't leaving without the others.

"Kobra!" he heard Jet Star cry over the noise of the ray guns. Fun Ghoul looked to see Kobra Kid lying on the tile, his body amongst the fallen Dracs. Shit Kobra. If they didn't get out of there now, none of them were going to make it. They were outnumbered. He didn't know where to aim first, there were so many, too many.

"Guys, we have to get out of here," Fun Ghoul called to the others as he backed towards the doors, "Gracie's safe, mission's accomplished, come on let's go!"

Fun Ghoul spun around towards the doors and was met with the sight of a quickly approaching swarm of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units making their way towards the building. The killjoys were going to have to find another way out. Fun Ghoul spun back around just in time to dust a Drac that was taking aim at him, when all of a sudden the elevator doors at the far end of the lobby opened.

The Dracs stopped shooting momentarily to look over at the elevator in surprise. The figure that stood in the elevator was a woman with long windblown hair the color of freshly fallen snow, her blank white ray gun drawn and aimed at a thin pipe that ran down the center of the ceiling. She was thin, but she wasn't emaciated. Her shirt hung from her curves in a flattering way, but he couldn't help but stare at the huge metal disc that seemed to be implanted in the center of her chest. What the hell was that thing?

The Dracs froze and looked uncertainly at each other as if they were unsure of what to do. Fun Ghoul glanced over his shoulder to see the huge army of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units nearing the building.

"If any of you Dracs take another shot, I'm blasting a hole in your plasma fluid line," the white haired girl spoke clearly, looking from Drac face to Drac face. What the hell was plasma fluid?

A surprised murmuring erupted from the crowd of Dracs, but they all lowered their ray guns. The S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units that had been approaching the building now entered the lobby and froze when they saw the white haired girl and her white ray gun pointed at the pipe in the ceiling.

"Killjoys," she called sharply, causing Fun Ghoul to snap his attention back to the white haired girl, "get in the elevator."

Fun Ghoul looked over at Jet Star who shrugged and started walking towards the elevator. Fun Ghoul followed and the Dracs parted hesitantly for them as they passed. Fun Ghoul could feel the tension in the air as he walked by the masked BL/ind employees. He could see their fingers fidgeting on the triggers, but none of them raised their guns.

Jet Star and Fun Ghoul hesitantly stepped into the elevator with the white haired girl whose arm was still raised towards the ceiling pipe, and they looked back out at the fidgeting and murmuring sea of Dracs.

"Party Poison, come on," the white haired girl called impatiently.

Party Poison surveyed the crowd of surrounding Dracs and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units before making his way to the elevator, hesitating for a long moment as he passed Kobra Kid's lifeless body. It was hard to make out his expression under the yellow mask as he stared down at the fallen killjoy.

"Press the close door button," the white haired girl ordered when they were all in the elevator, throwing a glance at Fun Ghoul. He quickly pressed the button and just as the doors began to close a high pitched blast was emitted from the girl's blank white ray gun and suddenly white liquid was gushing out of the ceiling pipe and onto the Dracs below.

The Dracs let out what seemed like thousands of blood curdling screams, spraying laser blasts everywhere and just before the elevator doors closed Fun Ghoul watched the white liquid burn right through the Dracs' clothing and skin.

/end transmission 


	6. <Give Me a Reason to Believe>

_transmission 6_ 

 

They all stared at the closed elevator doors for a moment before the white haired girl pressed the 4 button and the elevator hummed to life.

"Kobra," the curly haired killjoy with the eye patch said quietly looking down at his hands. The white haired girl looked over at him to ask what 'Kobra' meant, but when she saw the devastated look on his face she closed her mouth and decided not to say anything.

The short killjoy in the olive green vest put a hand on the afro killjoy's shoulder, while Party Poison just stared down at the floor through his festive yellow mask, which greatly contrasted the pained look in his eyes.

"Rule number two of a killjoy," Party Poison reminded them solemnly, "Don't get attached."

The other two nodded and a long silence ensued.

"Okay, there's an open air vent in a room on the fourth floor that we can climb into," the white haired girl explained breaking the dead silence in the elevator, "It leads out to the west side of the building where the Kams have already been taken out."

Party Poison looked up at her.

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes trailing to the metal disc implanted in the center of her chest. The white haired girl subconsciously brought her hand up to cover the disc, and Party Poison's eyes immediately snapped back up to hers.

"Doesn't matter, I'm just here to save your sorry asses then I'll be on my way," she spoke coldly turning back to face the elevator doors. Party Poison's eyes suddenly focused on her arm.

"Did you get some of that white stuff on you?" the killjoy in the green vest asked, following Party Poison's gaze to the white haired girl's arm which had a small circular hole oozing the same white liquid that had come out of the pipe. Party Poison looked back up at her with his eyebrows knit in what seemed like a mix of confusion and suspicion.

"Oh," the white haired girl exclaimed in surprise looking down at her arm, "Dammit, I was shot."

"You were shot," the eye patch killjoy repeated, looking up from his hands and examining the wound on the white haired girl's arm with his one good eye, "and you bleed white?"

"And you didn't even notice you were shot?" the green vest killjoy added incredulously, "Doesn't it hurt to get hit by a blast from a ray gun?"

Party Poison said nothing, he just watched her expectantly, searching her pale blue eyes for the answer to all of this.

Suddenly the elevator jerked to a sudden stop.

"Shit," the curly haired killjoy and the short green-vest killjoy said in unison looking up at the elevator ceiling. The white haired girl looked up at the electronic display that normally showed the floor number, but was now dark.

"They must've flipped the switch for the elevator's power," the white haired girl thought out loud, trying to quickly think of a plan. She looked around the elevator, but there was no way out.

"Follow me guys," Party Poison said calmly, pulling what looked like a small pen out of his pocket. The white haired girl watched curiously as he pressed a button on the pen and the end lit up a bright red color. He traced a circle in the metal of the elevator door, leaving a trail of disintegrated metal in its path. When he completed the circle the metal fell away leaving a tunnel in the door just big enough for them to squeeze through one at a time. Party Poison crawled through first and disappeared with the other two killjoys right behind him. The white haired girl hesitated a moment and then stuck her body through the hole and used a pipe on the outside of the elevator to pull herself out, her foot finding another pipe to stand on. The killjoys were all clinging to pipes and metal of their own.

"The fourth floor is the door right above us," she said pointing to the metal elevator doors just over their heads. She held her breath as Party Poison jumped from the pipe he was clinging to and grabbed hold of the ledge at the base of the elevator doors. They waited as he used the laser-pen-tool to burn a hole into the metal before hoisting himself up and crawling through the hole and onto the fourth floor.

"Come on guys," Party Poison urged as he disappeared from view. The afro killjoy went next, jumping and grabbing hold of the ledge then pulling himself up through the hole, and then the green-vest killjoy went after. The white haired girl took a deep breath and jumped from the pipe she stood on, barely grabbing onto the ledge. She looked up to see an outstretched hand. The green-vest killjoy smiled at her and she smiled back grabbing his hand and pulling herself through the hole and up onto the white tile.

They ran through the white corridors until the white haired girl turned into an empty room with a glass door and the killjoys followed. In the center of the ceiling was the air vent that's grate had been removed.

"Ladies first," said the afro killjoy motioning as he and the green-vest killjoy made a base with their hands for her to step on. She smiled, placing one foot on their base and pulled herself up into the air vent as the sounds of running footsteps and voices were heard in the long corridor outside. She scooted quickly in the square tunnel and made room as Party Poison came up next, then the afro killjoy, who reached down through the square opening and helped the short green-vest killjoy up into the vent. When they were all in the metal chute the white haired girl started crawling, leading them through the twists and turns until finally they saw the grate-less opening ahead.

The white haired girl felt a twinge of guilt when she saw that the sky was dark, remembering her promise to meet up with Casper before nightfall. When she stepped out of the air vent she looked back down at the wound on her arm. It hadn't stopped bleeding.

But of course it hadn't stopped bleeding, she knew that plasma fluid didn't clot like blood did. She quickly tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it tightly around the wound, using her right hand and her teeth to help.

"You could've just asked someone else to tie that for you," the killjoy with the eye patch suggested as he emerged from the air vent, the short killjoy right behind him. She ignored him.

"Let's get back to the car, I don't think it's a good idea to stand around out here," the short green-vest killjoy advised, looking around impatiently.

They have a car?

"Hey do you guys mind if I catch a ride out of here with you," the white haired girl asked, following as the killjoys started walking towards the apparent direction of the car.

"Sure," Party Poison said throwing her a smirk over his shoulder, "I thought you said you were just here to save our sorry asses, then you'd be on your way?"

The short one laughed and added in amusement, "Yeah, you're right she did say that!"

"I did save your sorry asses," the white haired girl defended herself pursing her lips, "and if you can get me to Zone 12, then I will be on my way."

The three killjoys exchanged looks trying to stifle laughs; they obviously didn't take her very seriously.

"Yeah sure, Zone 12 is on the way back to Zone 6," Party Poison said smiling at her. So it was true, killjoys did actually hang out in Zone 6. She crossed her arms and refused to look at the killjoys until they arrived at a white Trans-Am with a black spider spray painted on the hood. Party Poison opened the door and slid into the driver's seat as the white haired girl admired the car.

"Sweet, right?" the green-vest killjoy asked her with a proud smile, opening the car door for her. The white haired girl shrugged, trying to hold back a smile as she slid into the car.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty sweet."

 

/end transmission

 


	7. <Can We Pretend to Leave and Then We'll Meet Again When Both Our Cars Collide>

_transmission 7_

 

Casper scuttled through the vast California wasteland alone.

He kept looking around nervously, always expecting to find an exterminator on his tail, or a wild coyote.

Casper wasn't a combat robot and he felt vulnerable traveling the dangerous zones alone, but he padded on, clutching the vials of plasma fluid close to his metal body.

The sun had set which worried Casper more than anything else because it meant that the white haired girl was already at the old abandoned phone booth that they had assigned as their meet up spot if they were to ever get separated. She was probably wondering where Casper was.

He scurried faster. He knew he had to be close to the border of Zone 12 by now but it seemed that he was getting nowhere. Long empty stretches of sandy desert led to more long empty stretches of sandy desert and he started to wonder if he was walking in circles.

what_if_my_internal_compass_is_not_working_how_would_i_know_where_to_go_what_would_i_do_

Casper got lost in his worried thoughts, fretting about how awful it would be to get lost in the zones at night alone.

He was so wrapped up in his worried thoughts; he didn't even notice that he was being followed.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As much as the white haired girl hated to admit it, riding with the killjoys was fun.

She couldn't help but laugh and stick her head out the window with the afro killjoy as they blasted through the sandy zones fast. The zones at night were terrifying when you were on foot, but with the killjoys in their Trans-Am it felt like they were invincible, and that they didn't have a problem in the world.

"Na na na na na na na na na na na!" they chanted along with the radio at the top of their lungs as they sped past abandoned buildings and shrubs. The white haired girl was actually growing to like this "Dr. D" radio character that the killjoys listened to. He at least played awesome music.

Suddenly the car screeched to a stop, turning sharply and kicking up a spray of dust.

"Zone 12," Party Poison announced looking back at the white haired girl. All three killjoys looked at her expectantly. She contemplated staying in the car with the killjoys and going off with them to the exciting and mysterious Zone 6, before remembering Casper and quickly opening the car door and stepping out onto the sand.

"Thanks for the ride guys," she said with a smile, still feeling like she was on top of the world with the "na na na" song stuck in her head. She couldn't remember the last time she had even listened to music, and realized she needed to more often. Music was an easy thing to forget about when you were on the run in the dangerous zones, but there was something about just listening to an upbeat song like the ones this "Dr. D" played that kept you sane and returned just a little bit of light to an otherwise bleak and perilous life. She had always looked down on the killjoys' blasé attitude towards the impending doom and the overwhelming numbers of BL/ind, but maybe the killjoys knew what they were doing after all.

"Thanks for saving our sorry asses," Party Poison replied with a smirk before turning back to the steering wheel. The other two killjoys waved goodbye as she shut the door and the car sped off just as quickly as it had come.

She turned around to inspect her surroundings and suddenly felt the heavy weight of being alone at night in the zones settle on her shoulders. She hugged her arms to herself as she looked around, feeling vulnerable without Casper beside her. Okay, so she was in Zone 12, but where in Zone 12?

She panned the area around her, zooming to different depths until she finally spotted the abandoned old phone booth a few miles north. Thank god for super vision even in the dark.

She set off in the direction of the empty phone booth, her boots leaving footprints in the sand.

Her ears perked up at any sound in the darkness and she checked over her shoulder every minute or two. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her and Casper to split up; she hated being without him. At least she had her ray gun though. She wondered about poor Casper. Was he okay? Was it safe for a little ghost bot to be roaming the zones alone at night?

Casper is fast and crafty, he's probably fine, she assured herself before letting her mind drift back to the killjoys.

She had been totally opposed to the idea of killjoys before, but now that she'd met them she couldn't help but fantasize about having her own killjoy name and fighting alongside with Party Poison.

Something in the back of her mind tugged at her thoughts, but she ignored it.

She thought about the short killjoy with the green vest and his smile, which immediately caused her to smile into the empty darkness of the zones. She suddenly realized that she'd never found out the names of the two killjoys besides Party Poison. She felt some kind of twinge somewhere deep down but dismissed it.

She wondered idly if Party Poison had a girlfriend, then quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. She wasn't sure killjoys even dated. Were there even any girl killjoys anyways? Why did she even care?

The thought that had been tugging at the back of her mind returned, begging her to pay attention to it. What was it? What was wrong?

She looked again at the empty phone booth still miles ahead of her.

Wait.

The empty phone booth.

She quickly looked up at the sky as if to make sure it was night then looked back to the phone booth. She scanned the area around the phone booth with her vision frantically.

Where was Casper?

/end transmission

**Author's Note:**

> i drew a sketch of the white haired girl and casper for fun but you can imagine them however youd like!(:  
> 27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrlhm28ZTf1qmp63io1_500.png


End file.
